25 Senior Design Teams from Rice University competed in the first annual Rice Alliance - Brown School of Engineering Elevator Pitch Competition last night. The teams are comprised of undergraduate senior engineering students taking the capstone design courses in engineering from three departments:

A goal of the competition is to encourage students to consider the commercialization potential of their products and devices as they complete their designs and create their prototypes. Teams are asked to consider such factors as the market size, customer needs, target segments, competitors and unique differentiators.

The Rice Alliance presented cash prizes to the top 3 teams. Each team was given 60 seconds to make their pitch. The teams were judged by a panel of 45 judges who are successful investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and mentors from the Houston community. Teams were judged on the commercialization potential of their projects based on hearing their pitch.

The competition was organized by Dr. Maria Oden, Director of the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK), and Professor in the Practice of Engineering Education in Bioengineering, along with Dr. Gary Woods, Professor in the Practice of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Marcia O'Malley, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship.

1st Place Winner - $1000 cash: Team Spatial Suspenders: Accelerating the fight against cancer into the third dimension

Project Description: Using nanotechnology to facilitate large scale three-dimensional cell cultures in order to grow more clinically relevant tumor samples for evaluating cancer treatments.

The program was also supported by Tom Kraft, Deborah Mansfield, and others at the Houston Technology Center who provided classroom instruction and mentoring to teams in advance. The HTC separately recognized Team Owl Eye with an award for its commercial potential.

This competition was also part of Rice University's involvement in Global Entrepreneurship Week, which is sponsored in part by the Kauffman Foundation.

Thanks to all the judges and supporters who made this competition possible!

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About Rice UniversityThe Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) is Rice University’s nationally-recognized initiative devoted to the support of technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education, and the launch of technology companies.

Since inception, the Rice Alliance has assisted in the launch of more than 230 start-ups which have raised more than half-a-billion dollars in early-stage capital. More than 750 companies have presented at the 100+ programs hosted by the Rice Alliance.